EJ Todd Go Hard and Soft for Teemburra Win Team EJ Todd (Craig Griffith and Trent Short) 10/10, 623cm claimed victory in the final round of the 2013 BARRA Tour at Teemburra Dam, with the winning pair using a combination of hard body lures and soft plastics to catch their fish. Fishing a combination of points and backs of bays the pair focused much of their attention at the mouth of Teemburra Creek.

Click pic to see full gallery of Teemburra images. “We’d fish Teemburra Creek before sunset, then we’d move to Middle Creek,” explained Griffiths. With Griffith throwing a Lucky Craft DD Pointer 100 most of the time and Short a 5″ Castaic swimbait the key was to find the right weed in each location to find the fish. “The thick lush, bright green weed was the key. The fish seemed to really key in on this,” explained Short. The retrieve for Griffith using the Lucky Craft involved casting the Pointer tight to the edge then slowing twitching and pausing it out from the edge. Once the lure was two metres out from the edge he’d crank the lure back and repeat. For Short the retrieve was slower and more direct. “I’d cast the lure into the weed edge then slowly draw it through the weed to it didn’t get hung up,” explained Short. The tandem approach paid dividends with the pair catching five fish on day one and another six on day two. The only team to catch their full limit for the event it was a switch bait approach that the paired used that they saw as their key to getting to fish. “If I got a bite on my hardbody, Trent would throw his soft plastic straight in there, and likewise if he got a bite on his soft plastic I’d throw my hard body in there,” explained Griffiths. “As long as we didn’t throw the same lure in most cases we’d catch the fish.” A calculated approach that delivered results, and delivered the pair the Teemburra event win and the 2013 BARRA Tour Team of the Year (TOY) crown. “I was a little disappointed with my barra tour last year, so to do well this year and to win the title fishing with Trent is very satisfying,” explained Griffiths. “I couldn’t have done it without the support of Trent and the guys at EJ Todd.” Team Nomad (don’t) Roam in to Second Place Willem Reichard and Ken Elliot from Team Nomad Tackle/Hydrowave (9/10, 496cm) finished second at Teemburra with the pair fishing a lily point near the mouth of Teemburra Creek to catch the majority of their fish. “We caught some fish in other areas, but it was definitely the point that gave us most of or fish,” explained Elliot. Anchored up in 5 metres of water and a cast length out from the point the pair would cast their lorikeet colour Squidgy Slick Rig 110 and 130 to edge, then flick it and rip it out of the lilies to get the attention of any barra. Day one was the standout at day for the approach with the pair catching a seven fish for the session, which included a 30 minute bite period when the fish were really active. “They bit their heads off just on dark,” explained Elliot. Day two proved a lot tougher, especially during the daylight hours, an increase in activity just on dark did however get things moving. “They bit once again as it got dark, and five minutes before the end of the session we lost a 75cm fish that would have given us our full limit for the tournament,” explained Elliot. Falling one fish shy of their full bag the pair finished in second place, their second runner-up position for the 2013 BARRA Tour and a level of consistency that saw them finish in 3rd place in the Team of the Year points race for the year. One of the most consistent teams on the BARRA Tour this year Reichard and Elliot will definitely be a team to watch in 2014. Big Barra Team Swamp Donkey claimed the Big Barra Prize at Teemburra with the team catching the prize winning 97cm fish on a bright yellow coloured Squidgy Slick Rig 130 at 4.30pm on day two of competition. Caught from a lily lined weed point 700 metres from the boat ramp it was the standout fish on the team’s catch card which also included a 94cm. Once again from the same weed point. Winning Tackle Rod- Dobyns Champion 705SF (Short), Reel- Shimano Calais (Griffiths), Daiwa 3000 Branzino (Short) Line- 30lb PE (Griffiths), 30lb Sunline Momentum PE (Short) Leader- 30lb FC fluorocarbon (Griffiths), 35lb FC 100 flurocarbon Lure- Lucky Craft DD Pointer (Griffith), french blue coloured 5″ Castaic Jerky J Swim rigged on a Hypohead with a Trokar size 5 worm hook (Short) Winning Ways Team EJ Todd saw two things as integral to their success, the switching of lures when they got bite and the use of their Hydrowave to keep fish active and draw them out of the weedbeds.

Kinchant Dam hosted the second event of the 2013 BARRA Tour, the Kinchant Night Championship. This was the first time Kinchant Dam had been used for an ABT BARRA event. Add to this that Kinchant Dam was recently used for series 10 of the Australian Fishing Championships (AFC) BARRA rounds and all anglers were excited about what lay in store.Kinchant Shines For Night Championship

Kinchant Dam hosted the second event of the 2013 BARRA Tour, the Kinchant Night Championship. This was the first time Kinchant Dam had been used for an ABT BARRA event. Add to this that Kinchant Dam was recently used for series 10 of the Australian Fishing Championships (AFC) BARRA rounds and all anglers were excited about what lay in store.

The Night Championship format tests angler’s skill and stamina in equal measure. Teams fish one session from 4pm through to 7am the next morning. This maximises the opportunity to catch barramundi during the prime twilight and early morning periods. Unfortunately the weather decided to play its part during the tournament and teams had to battle the elements in addition to trying to catch the barramundi on offer.

Team BTD Lures/McArthur Custom Rods decided not to prefish for the event. Benn Durkin explains, “We felt we had enough experience from social fishing on the dam. Also we were concerned how the extra traffic would affect what is essentially a small dam.

We had decided on our location prior to the event. It was a rock bar located at the entrance to a feeder creek. We would sit in around 25 feet of water and cast up onto a weed flat of around 10 feet deep. Our location gave us access to both deep and shallow water without needing to move the boat”.

At the start of the tournament the team went straight to their chosen location. Using Humminbird Side Imaging the anglers noted that there was good fish traffic moving through the area and used Jackall Transams and 130mm Squidgy slick rigs in black/gold colour to entice any bites on offer.

Durkin dissects the location, “There was a v-shaped channel through the weed that was like a natural highway for the fish. Barramundi were continuously moving through this channel”.

The team experienced an initial flurry of activity once they arrived at their chosen location, boating five fish within a hectic 45 minutes. This was followed by a quiet patch till 12pm when near the high tide window two fish were caught.

The weather throughout the session was challenging for all the anglers. The storm that hit during the event briefing quickly dissipated, but rainstorms and high wind continued throughout the night. Team BTD Lures/McArthur Custom Rods attempted to spotlock with their electric motor, but in the end the conditions decreed that they required the anchor.

At 3am another storm hit albeit for a short time. The team hadn’t had a bite since 12am, but as the sun slowly began to light the morning another bite window opened. A change in lure colour (130mm Squidgy slick Rig in pilly colour) prompted bites and saw the team land a further two fish before finishing the session.

Durkin discusses the team’s key technique, “We made long casts then we let the lure sink to the bottom. Using vicious rips of the rod we would lift the lure off the bottom before letting it sink back with a few turns of the reel. This would be repeated back to the boat. Most of the bites came as the lure was sitting on the bottom”.

The team made special mention of the fellow anglers competing at the event, “It was great to see so many young, keen anglers attend the BARRA Tour this year. These are anglers who quickly cotton on to what is happening and perform well across all the events. It pushes everyone to become better and has made the tour dynamic and competitive, whilst still retaining the great social element that is the BARRA Tour”.

Dobyns/Rapala Street Team take second and Big Barra

Team Dobyns/Rapala Street Team (Karin De Ridder/Luke Katsaros) caught 5/5, 495cm to finish in second place. Their limit was anchored by the event Big Barra, a whopping 122cm fish. Karim De Ridder shares the eventful session, “Leading up to the event and the day before we prefished the dam. We had one location in the deep with an adjacent weededge. The barramundi were showing on the sidescan unit and we were confident of finding some fish”.

Team Dobyns/Rapala Street Team fished a location near to where the winning team found their fish. The back of the bay where they were located was in 14-15 feet of water with the adjacent weed edge shallowing out into 2 feet of water. A channel through the weed was a key transitional area for the barramundi in the location.

De Ridder talks us through the session, “We had some early nudges when we arrived at the location. At round 4.45pm we had our first fish via a double hookup. The bites continued through to twilight”. The teams key lures were a 130mm Squidgy slick rig in black/gold colour, a Jackall Transam and a custom white 7″ swimbait rigged on a 3/8th oz TT jighead.

Bites continued to come through the session. Shortly after a rain squall came through the team hooked a fish that was to be the event Big Barra. De Ridder explains what then unfolded, “It was a good fish. When we finally landed it we attempted to move it from the back of the boat to the front. In the process the spine of the fish hit a knee and after the fish was photographed and released we realised the spine had broken off in the contact and was in the knee”.

A trip to Mackay hospital ensued with the anglers then returning to Kinchant Dam around 2pm. Fishing was slow until the daylight brought the fish on the bite. A further two fish were caught before the session ended a long night for the team.

The team used Dobyns/ACM rods paired with quality baitcaster and spin reels spooled with 10-20lb braid and 40-60lb Sunline FC 100 leader.

De Ridder wraps it up, “Key for us was the location. The number and size of the fish demanded we stay in the area. Also keeping the lure in the zone near the edge of the weed was important. We changed our jighead weights (3/8th oz – ¾ oz) depending on the depth of the area we were fishing. The technique was to cast to the edge, hop the lure out of the weed and have it swimming into deeper water. This attracted both deeper barra and those willing to follow the lure out from the weed edge”.

Whilst the wild and woolly weather made things uncomfortable for the anglers the fishing fired with 70 fish being caught and released. The overall average size was an impressive 89cm. In all nineteen teams boated fish during the tournament. If these figures are anything to go by Kinchant Dam is set to go for BARRA 2014.

The Overall BARRA Team of the Year (TOY) is the most prestigious award a BARRA team can achieve. It rewards theteam who are the most consistent throughout the qualifying rounds, with points per round allocated according to placing. At the end of the Rounds, TOY points are tallied and the BARRA Team of the Year is determined. A team best three events will count towards their Overall TOY Calculations.

Power Charges To Victory Team Power (Trent Power/Donovan Power) took out the first event of the 2013 BARRA Tour, the Peter Faust Evening Event. Team Power’s tournament limit of 9/10, 925cm saw them secure a comfortable victory and provide the perfect start to their 2013 ABT tournament season.Power Charges To Victory

Team Power (Trent Power/Donovan Power) took out the first event of the 2013 BARRA Tour, the Peter Faust Evening Event. Team Power’s tournament limit of 9/10, 925cm saw them secure a comfortable victory and provide the perfect start to their 2013 ABT tournament season.

Team Power located fish during the prefish day with a number of proven locations sounding good numbers of barramundi. “The fish were there and responding to a Stiffy Bony Bream lure”, explained Trent Power.

In the first session Team Power traveled to a clearing near the old power lines where they fished a point next to an adjacent gully. Trent Power explains, “We targeted a section of bank around 50 meters long casting to a lilly edge in water from 2-4 meters deep. We had a concentrated bite window between 2.30 to 4.30 pm when we caught most of our fish (3). We then checked out adjacent weedy flats and the old creek line before returning to our key area. The team’s session one total of 5/5, 503cm had them sitting in second place and poised to challenge the leader.

On day two Team Power returned to their key location, but were unable to find any fish. They moved to a nearby location, Pandanus Bay, which had two branching arms with a flat in between. The team moved further up the creek for no fish before moving back to the flats. A quiet spell almost prompted a move, before their first fish of the session was caught and landed. A decision to stay at the location was rewarded with two more fish coming before sunset.

In a final throw of the dice the team headed to fish the main basin. Donovan Power explains what unfolded, “We were fishing around 250 meters from the buoy line with plenty of other boats. We were marking plenty of baitfish and barramundi in the area. The soundings indicated that the bait was holding in 20-30 feet with active barramundi sitting underneath. Surface activity indicated that the fish were active. I was casting out and slow rolling the lure when I got a hit with twenty minutes to go. The barramundi went 117cm and was our final fish for the session”.

The team’s key lures were a 130mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black gold and white. Both were rigged on Area 51 jigheads. “During the day we used the black/gold and at night switched to the white”, explained Trent Power.

Trent Power explains the pattern, “The key areas were small in size with adjacent rivulets nearby. Whilst we sounded fish in the deep they weren’t feeding. The majority of the fish we caught were barramundi sitting tight to the edges”.

Nomad Tackle/HydroWave secure second place

Team Nomad Tackle/HydroWave caught 8/10, 781cm to finish in second place. Leading after day one the team found the fishing harder on day two and was overtaken by a fast finishing Team Power. Ken Elliot and Willem Reichard share their experience, “We had a good prefish where we caught fish and identified our key locations. We had 3-4 areas where we could focus on depending on the prevalent wind direction and amount of traffic in the area”.

On day one the team headed to a shallow bank near the existing powerlines. The bank had an adjacent deep channel proving the team with multiple options. The team employed their HydroWave to activate the baitfish in the vicinity. Reichard explains,

“The HydroWave is a patented electronic sound device that emits the natural sounds of bait fish and predatory fish feeding on them. Together the sounds produce an instinctive response in nearby predatory fish. The predatory fish can hear the sounds and feel the vibrations of the sound waves in the water.

We used the Australian freshwater edition and toggled through the settings toggling between bony bream passive, freshwater shrimp and Red claw/yabby. We set the HydroWave on a 30 second sound loop on ½ volume setting”.

The barramundi were active with the team noting they would move through in groups of two and three. Between 3pm and 4pm a distinct bite window occurred with the team capitalizing and landing four fish. Reichard explains the team’s approach, “We would look to constantly mix up the presentations with one team member using a different lure to the other. This would be either a hardbody or larger lure. The key lure for the session was a 130mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black/gold colour rigged on a ½ oz Area 51 jighead. The retrieve was a slow roll punctuated with hops. All our hookups were solid with the fish hitting the lure aggressively”.

Team Nomad Tackle/HydroWave led the field after the first session with 5/5, 521cm. With an average fish size of 104.2cm the team were confident they were in the right area and anticipated a good day two session.

On day two the wind direction changed. Despite this challenge the team decided to stick with their successful day one plan. Even though there were fewer bites the team cottoned onto an important bite trigger. Elliot explains, “Occasionally surface activity would erupt around the boat. The key was to quickly cast to those activity areas to get a bite. It was really about being in tune with what was happening around you”.

In all the team secured 3/5, 260cm which secured them overall second place and valuable Team of the Year (TOY) points.

Big Barra The event Big Barra (118cm) was caught in session two by Geoff Newby (Team MTA Blue). Newby explains, “The fish was caught at 2.10pm from below the existing powerlines. We were anchored in six feet casting back to a lilly edge in 2 feet of water. I was using a medium paced retrieve when the fish hit the lure (130mm Squidgy Slick Rig in Black/gold colour). The fish gave some fight, breaching a couple of times before coming to the boat. Fortunately my stinger hook was effective as it was hooked in the lip. Very exciting and happy to catch it during a tournament”.

Winning Ways “We took the opportunities when they presented themselves. We were confident in the locations we chose. Understanding why areas were holding fish and knowing enough locations with similar characteristics made the difference. We could identify areas that weren’t as heavily pressured and the fish would respond accordingly. This all came about due to time and experience on the water.

Also having a smaller boat (3.75m/25HP) proved useful around trees and small creek areas. Being maneuverable is sometimes the difference between catching and losing fish”.

Shailer Park, QLD- Australian Bass Tournaments (ABT) provides multi species catch-and-release tournaments to anglers across Australia. Since 1999 ABT has grown from a handful of tournaments to multiple tournament series involving thousands of anglers.

ABT’s mission is to provide anglers, and the industry, with premier, catch and release tournament circuits in an ethically responsible manner. Catch and release lure fishing has gained traction with the wider angling community and subsequently is educating generations of anglers to participate and enjoy angling..

Communication and dissemination of successful tackle and techniques is the key element to making the successful anglers role-models for the wider angling community. ABT’s motto “Who Shares Wins” remains the cornerstone of this principle.

Present

Recent challenges have seen ABT restructured with the goal of making the business better organised for its present needs. These changes are integral to the long term viability of ABT. As a result of these changes ABT can focus better on its core business whilst maximising the variety of opportunities available. This ultimately translates to exciting new opportunities for both anglers and sponsors.

The overall number of events is set to be reduced in 2014. The silver lining to the cloud is that a reduction in the number of events will see an increase in quality with a growing list of new media, features and opportunities being introduced to benefit anglers, spectators and sponsors. Other areas of business such as the membership, Tournament Angler Guide, and staffing are being restructured, a change that will deliver greater financial viability to ABT and enable the freeing up of resources to enable the development of new industry-leading practices and tournaments.

With unparallel experience, historical data, infrastructure and access to all forms of media, ABT remains at the forefront of tournament fishing in Australia. The 2014 calendar is rapidly emerging and is set to deliver anglers and sponsors amazing opportunities via a cross section of media platforms and digital technology.

Future

In the next week ABT will release a more detailed plan of what it has to offer for 2014. Included in that will be a draft calendar, detailing the number of events for each series, and the broad areas in which those events will be held.

A more detailed final calendar will be released prior to Christmas with the new tournament season predicted to start in February, 2014.

While the events of 2013 have hit ABT hard we are invigorated by the opportunity that has been presented to us. The opportunity to evolve, to strive for bigger and better things, and to deliver anglers the ultimate tournament fishing experience and for associated businesses and industries to continue to reap the rewards.

Ideal for both casting and trolling, with a slow rise on the pause; this beefy 10cm lure won’t just prevail over tough encounters, it will encourage them – with its reflective holographic eye and unique X-Rap colour schemes that fish find irresistible.